Indonesia to relocate militias away from E. Timor border

06/07/2000 Kyodo News

JAKARTA, June 7 --

Indonesia will relocate pro-Jakarta East Timorese militias away from the border between West and East Timor , Foreign Minister Alwi Shihab said Wednesday.

At a press conference after meeting military officials in his office, Shihab hoped the planned move would sort out "what foreign countries called the trouble source."

Shihab did not say where the militias would be relocated.

Many international organizations, including the U.N. Transitional Administration in East Timor and the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, have accused the militias' intimidating presence near the border of hampering the repatriation of East Timorese from Indonesia-controlled West Timor .

Shihab said there were still around 140,000 refugees in West Timor of the around 230,000 who fled across the border during the rampage of militia violence in East Timor last year.

Shihab revealed President Abdurrahman Wahid would also discuss the issue with U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan during a meeting set for next Tuesday in New York.

Pro-Jakarta militias and some Indonesian soldiers went on a rampage of arson, killing and rapes last September when an overwhelming majority of East Timorese voted to reject Indonesia's continued rule of the territory in last August's U.N.-organized referendum.

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